The Life of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna: Savior, Emperor, President,
and Dictator

by Randy L. Sible

In 1821 the old authoritarian system of Spain collapsed
in Mexico leaving no group of citizens trained to assume the responsibility
of government. "The Mexicans tried every form of government:
an empire with a self made emperor, a federal republic, a centralist republic,
and a dictatorship. The results were always disastrous. … The
dominant feature in the history of early Mexico were rebellions of generals
who pronounced themselves against the government and proclaimed a "plan"
denouncing existing abuses and promising reforms."
"The leading actor in this tragicomedy was
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Perez de Lebron. Born in Jalapa on February
21, 1794, to a family of indifferent social standing, he had a gift for
concocting plans and instigating pronunciamientos that remains unmatched
to this day. A talented commander, revered as a hero for his battle
victories, and a clever politician who was able to shift his allegiance
when public opinion changed, he was in turn the champion of the liberals,
the defender of the conservatives, and the promoter of dictatorship."
Santa Anna's military career began on June 10, 1810,
despite his father's objections, he became an infantry cadet fighting for
the Spanish against the insurgents. He quickly climbed up the ranks
becoming a lieutenant by the age of 18. "He first appeared on the
political scene at Veracruz in 1821 when he switched his allegiance away
from Spain and pronounced for "El Libertador," Agustin de Iturbide."
Santa Anna decided to secure his place in history
as a outstanding military leader in Mexico's war of independence by liberating
the city of Veracruz from Spanish control. Veracruz's defenses were
considered impregnable, but this did not deter Santa Anna. On July
21, 1821, he led a vigorous assault on the city. He continued the
battle until October 21, when the Spanish retreated to the harbor island
fortress of San Juan de Ulua. Santa Anna proclaimed Veracruz liberated.
He was emerging as a revolutionary hero.
On May 19, 1822, Agustin de Iturbide was named the
first emperor of Mexico, but his reign would be short-lived. Iturbide's
obsessive vanity and his neglect of his duties drove the country's economy
to ruin. Within ten months his empire had collapsed. In December
of 1822 Santa Anna pronounced Veracruz, were he was governor, against the
empire and proclaimed a republic. Santa Anna prepared his forces
in Veracruz for Iturbide's attack, but the assault never materialized.
Instead, other generals joined Santa Anna in rejecting Iturbide as emperor.
In February 1823 virtually all military and political leaders signed the
Plan of Casa Mata. This declaration called for an end to Iturbide's
rule.
On July 27 1829, the Spanish made their last desperate
bid to regain control of Mexico. They sent a small expedition of
three thousand soldiers to Tampico, Mexico to reconquer her former colony.
Drawing upon his authority as governor of the state of Veracruz, Santa
Anna recruited and armed two thousand men. It was a small force,
but it was large enough to be a formidable military threat. "The
new general rushed to Tampico to beat off the Spaniards, who had already
been defeated by heat and yellow fever. After a short but bloody
action, the Spanish troops surrendered, and Santa Anna began to be known
throughout Mexico as the "Savior of the Country" and the "Victor of Tampico."
Santa Anna himself retired to his hacienda and was quoted as saying, "that
I would not have to answer another call to arms."
Santa Anna's retirement would not be a long one.
In the early 1830 Vice-president Anastasio Bustamante took over the president's
office from Vincente Guerrero. "Bustamante's administration improved
government finances, but ruled Mexico through terror, imprisonment, and
assassination. One victim of the firing squad was Guerrero."
The execution of Guerrero angered many Mexicans and triggered another military
revolt. Santa Anna was one of the first to pronounce against Bustamante.
By the end of that year Bustamante was removed from office. On April
1, 1833, Santa Anna was elected president of the republic.
Santa Anna assumed the office of president, but
he did not actually run the government. This task he delegated to
his vice-president Valentin Gomez Farias, an ardent liberal. "Gomez
Farias indeed cleaned house from attic to basement. He sponsored
many good measures, though his reforms displeased the clergy and the army
(Olivera 1991,10)." When the colonels and generals began to rebel
Santa Anna "ousted Gomez Farias, dissolved congress, discharged all officials
suspected of liberalism, repealed the anticlerical legislation of his predecessor,
and repressed rebellions with merciless brutality." He used his authority
to promote a strong central government and to protect the power of the
church, wealthy land owners, and the military. This pleased the conservatives,
but liberal politicians were dismayed and led rebellions against Santa
Anna.
The strongest opposition came from the providence
of Texas, where many Americans had settled. The reason for this was
that the Mexican government had encouraged Americans in the past to settle
in Texas, but after finding they were losing control of the providence
changed their immigration policy. Doing this prompted Texas on November
3, 1835 to declare the providence independent. Santa Anna interpreted
this action as traitorous. He quickly raised and equipped an army
of 6,000 men to march to San Antonio. There he met his first organized
resistance at a historic mission called The Alamo. There William
Travis, Jim Bowie, and another 180 men were slaughtered fighting off the
Mexicans. Even Santa Anna's officers could not justify his actions
at the Alamo.
"A month later Sam Houston's Texans, with blood-curdling
shouts of "Remember the Alamo," pounced on Santa Anna's unwary troops and
defeated them in thirty minutes. Santa Anna fled for safety.
Two days later he was captured by one of Houston's patrols." In return
for his release Santa Anna agree to recognize the independence of Texas.
This never happened, once Santa Anna returned to Mexico the government
repudiated the treaty. Humiliated and discredited, Santa Anna once
again retires to his hacienda.
In 1838 Santa Anna once again was allowed to regain
his prestige as a national hero in a dispute between France and Mexico
later called the Pastry War. King Louis Philippe of France demanded
that Mexico pay the French government 600,000 pesos. The money was
to be used to compensate French citizens for property they had lost in
Mexico's war of independence. The French started by blockading Veracruz
harbor in April 1838. Shortly after, a French naval artillery barrage
demonstrated just how obsolete Mexico's coastal fortifications were by
demolishing several sections of the walls surrounding the crucial island
fortress of San Juan de Ulua.
On December 1, rather than pay the damages Mexico
officially declares war on France. Once it was decided to go to war,
President Bustamante concluded that there was only one man in Mexico who
could organize an effective defense against the now widely anticipated
French invasion--Santa Anna. "When the French admiral Charles Baudin
landed 3,000 troops in Veracruz, the flamboyant Santa Anna hastened to
the port. As the French forces were in retreat to their boats, a
cannonball shattered his leg, and it was clumsily amputated the following
day. The accident proved to be a blessing in disguise for Santa Anna.
He would forever be the martyred hero bleeding for his beloved homeland."
British mediation resolved the French dispute the following spring.
In return for the promise of the Mexican government to pay the demanded
600,000 pesos over a period of years, the French lifted the blockade.
While Santa Anna recovered from his wounds in Manga
de Clavo, the political situation in Mexico deteriorated. Rebel uprisings
increased during the early months of 1839. President Bustamante proved
unable to defeat the rebel forces, so Santa Anna sent out his own forces.
On May 3 they virtually wiped out the rebel army and its leaders.
After this victory Santa Anna knew the presidency was his for the taking.
It would simply be a matter of timing.
On October 10, 1841, Santa Anna took the oath of
office, beginning the longest uninterrupted period--three years--which
he would ever serve. Shortly after he assumed the presidency, Santa
Anna began establishing a military dictatorship. "He proved to be
remarkable in collecting money--taxes and more taxes. He imposed
"voluntary" contributions on all householders of the capital, increased
duties by 20 percent, exacted forced loans from the church, and sold mining
concessions to the British. But the money was spent for the glory
and the pleasure of the dictator, not for the welfare of the general population
or the good of the republic."
Santa Anna's popularity continued to decline rapidly
in the fall of 1844 as a result of the deteriorating financial condition
of the country. On December 2, Congress formally declared his dictatorial
conduct as president unacceptable. His presidency was officially
over. Santa Anna was offered a deal: he would be allowed to
keep his three properties--El Encero (88,000 acres), Manga de Clavo (220,000
acres), and Paso de Varas (175,000 acres); and he would be paid half a
general salary if he would agree to renounce all claims to the presidency
and accept exile to Venezuela. Because the most likely alternative
was execution, Santa Anna accepted.
Santa Anna instead went to Cuba were he continued
to monitor events in Mexico. He watched Mariano Paredes, a federalist,
overthrow the government and take over the presidency from his replacement,
Jose Joaquin Herrera, in December 1845. But Paredes was no more successful
that Herrera in coping with the collapse of the economy, the inability
to obtain foreign loans, suppressing rebellions, and negotiating a solution
to the annexation of Texas by the United States on March 1, 1845.
His inability to obtain funds to pay the army along with the outbreak of
war between Mexico and the United States in May 1846 led to the overthrow
of the government on August 6.
The third man to control Mexico within slightly
more than a year of Santa Anna's exile was Valentin Gomez Farias, who assumed
control of a politically unstable nation at war with no money. Only
one man had a history of being able to defend Mexico's independence in
such circumstances--Santa Anna. Gomez Farias knew Santa Anna could
not be trusted, but he felt that he had no choice but invite him back to
assume command of Mexico's defenses. Santa Anna assured Gomez Farias
that he had no political ambitions and all he wanted to do was to lead
the efforts to protect Mexico.
While Santa Anna was making promises to Gomez Farias,
he was secretly negotiating with the United States in Cuba. He told
them that if he was allowed to pass through the United State's blockade
at Veracruz, he would do everything he could to end the war along the terms
they sought--recognition of the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of
Texas and the purchase of California. The naïve Americans agreed
and allowed the former dictator to land in Veracruz. On August 16,
1846 Santa Anna returned to accept command of Mexico's military forces.
Ironically, the United States assisted to return the one man capable of
organizing and leading an effective national resistance campaign against
it.
Santa Anna's strategy for repelling the American
attack was simple: defeat the invasion force of General Zachary Taylor
in northern Mexico and then counter an expected U.S. landing at Veracruz.
To accomplish this he recruited and organized an army of 20,000 men and
marched them to the Battle of Buena Vista. During the two day battle,
February 22 and 23, 1847, the two armies fought one another to a standstill.
After the second day Santa Anna's officers told him his men were exhausted
and had almost run out of food and water. Instead of being routed
the next day by a U.S. offensive, Santa Anna decided to withdraw his troops
from the battlefield and fall back to Mexico City.
As the Mexican army marched back to Mexico City,
Santa Anna shrewdly snatched victory from defeat by racing ahead of his
army with two captured American flags captured during the fighting and
proclaiming that a glorious victory had been achieved. "Shortly thereafter
he took to the field to meet Winfield Scott's army, who had landed at Veracruz.
Attacked from the front and flank and back, the Mexican army was cut to
pieces at Cerro Gordo." The rout was so complete that to escape capture,
Santa Anna was forced to flee without both his extra wooden leg and a chest
containing 50,000 pesos. By August the U.S. forces had reached the
suburbs of Mexico City and were ready to attack, and on September 14 the
city fell. Santa Anna retired once more into exile.
"Mexico City could have been defended. As
Lesley Byrd Simpson puts it, "The Mexicans were defeated in advance by
hatred, jealousies, poverty, despair, indifference, and apathy."
Some Mexicans, however, fought with great courage and obstinacy.
On February 2, 1848, a peace treaty was signed between the United States
and Mexico at Guadalupe Hidalgo, just outside the capital. The effects
of the war in Mexico were to reduce its size considerably, because of the
loss of what are now the states of California, Nevada, and Utah and parts
of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, but to fill up the
Mexican treasury by $15 million."
"The moderates remained in power a few years and
the country enjoyed the most honest government it had ever had. But
their reforms displeased the army. More pronunciamientos followed.
The conservatives returned to power, and Santa Anna was called back from
exile. Reluctantly he abandoned his happy retirement because he felt
it was his duty to heed the call of the country."
The disastrous conditions of the nation called for
drastic action, but this did not mean Conservative political leaders were
foolish enough to trust Santa Anna. Before he was allowed to return
on April 1, 1853, he agreed to certain stipulations: His term was
to be for one year, and Lucas Alaman was to receive the most important
post in his cabinet. The other cabinet posts were to be filled with
other Conservatives, but it was Alaman's responsibility to monitor Santa
Anna's actions.
On April 20, 1853, Santa Anna took the presidential
oath of office for the fifth and last time. He immediately set out
implementing the Conservative agenda: Congress and the state legislatures
were adjourned; state tax revenue administration and collection was transferred
to the central government; freedom of the press was suspended; and a new
constitution authorizing a highly centralized government was drafted.
To ensure the support of the army, Santa Anna increased military funding.
The total number of soldiers almost doubled to 90,000 men.
If Santa Anna had only served a year in office and
remained merely a figurehead for Alaman he might be remembered today in
Mexico as one of the country's great political leaders. Unfortunately
on June 2, 1853 Alaman died and influence shifted to a corrupt group around
Santa Anna. The government was soon run solely for the enrichment
of Santa Anna and his cronies. On December 16 Santa Anna declared
himself "Most Serene Highness" and "Perpetual Dictator."
The first act of His Serene Highness may have been
the thing that paved the way for his fall. "To replenish his coffers
he sold the Mesilla Valley, now part of southern Arizona and New Mexico,
to the United States for $10 million, in what is know as the Gadsden Purchase."
The United States wanted the area along its southern border for a proposed
southern transcontinental railroad.
Santa Anna claimed that he had no choice:
"The United States would had taken the area by force if he had not agree
to the sale." A rebellion slowly gathered strength. On March
1, 1854, a new revolt began with the announcement of the Plan of Ayutla
by Liberal leaders. It called for an end to Santa Anna's regime and
the convening of a national congress to write a new liberal constitution.
Two weeks later, Santa Anna led a large army out
of Mexico City to crush the rebellion centered at Acapulco. His policy
of shooting captured rebels and burning every village suspected of furnishing
supplies to the rebels cost him much more political support than it gained.
When Santa Anna's first attempt to storm the well fortified rebel position
was repulsed, he declared victory and marched back to Mexico City.
Santa Anna realized that he could not save the situation
and in August 9, 1855 he slipped out of Mexico City. A week later,
he and his family boarded a vessel at Antigua for a third journey into
"permanent" exile. "A tumultuous chapter in Mexican history had ended.
The former perpetual dictator was allowed to return to his homeland seventeen
years later. He spent his last four years in solitude and died destitute
and forgotten on June 1, 1876."